Various communication networks employ optical links. For example, IEEE 802.3ae-2002™ standard, Aug. 30, 2002, and IEEE Draft P802.3aq™/D4.0, May, 2006, define physical layer specifications for communicating over optical fibers. Section 52-5 of the IEEE 802.3ae-2002 standard specifies requirements for both Short Range (SR) and Long Range (LR) fiber links. Section 68.5 of the IEEE P802.3aq™/D4.0 draft defines a Long Range Multimode (LRM) fiber link. Programmable optical transmitters are increasingly being used in the optical links to improve performance and flexibility. For example, programmable optical transmitters may be used in connection with colorless, directionless, contentionless reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexers (CDC ROADMs) in wavelength division multiplexing optical transport networks (OTNs).